Halloween Fun In DM

One of the reasons I love Des Moines this time of year is for all of the fun events that go on. Our two go-to's are Night Eyes (I mean, my younger sister is in charge of the event, so it's kind of a must for us) and Living History Farms Trick or Treat event. I was unsure if the oldest mini would want to go this year, but he happily put on a costume and walked around with his brother and sister. Other than that, the weather was gorgeous so windows were finished up and there was LOTS of raking and jumping in the leaves...to be perfectly honest, the leaves have been raked close to twenty times in the last two weeks but haven't gotten picked up once because the minis are so sure they can create "the biggest leaf pile ever." Who am I to disregard that? Plus, it's less work for me at the moment.

Here's a look at our weekend fun during the Halloween season:

We had the house sprayed for stink bugs and I was shocked it worked! Until I went to put up the umbrella on the patio table so we could eat outdoors and I found those little suckers all hiding, hunkered up together. This was only one spot. Underneath the umbrella was covered. Little bastards.

Elizabeth is LOVING her one hour of Christmas jazz on Saturday mornings. Wednesday nights she still has ballet, tap, and tumbling for an hour. I'm quite certain she could dance every night of the week and still not have enough of it. When she got home from her recital practice, she told Alexa to play Santa Baby and she attempted to teach the boys to do "twisty legs."

Saturday afternoon we had an early dinner with my parents at Noah's and then headed to Night Eyes. It's much more enjoyable with fully tummies full of good food....much less of a chance for the kids to stuff their face with candy.

I think my favorite part of this Halloween was my little girly girl deciding upon The Hulk as her costume.

Animals, train rides, and limited pieces of candy make this our go-to trick or treating place before Beggar's Night.

By the time we got through the zoo, ate popcorn and drank hot chocolate, and made a stop in the gift shop, it was dark and nearly past bedtime. 

 This is how a kid multi-tasks: using the toilet while popping Skittles. Nothing like a little sugar before bed.

 As I put the minis to bed I noticed a theme with Elizabeth: my parents tend to buy her the biggest, most obnoxious presents. Huge furry pillow from our day at Adventureland ✔ large stuffed owl (that she's wanted for a year) ✔ Can't wait to see what she gets for Christmas...


Sunday morning started with brunch (that also included their new stuffed animals), followed by window work, raking leaves, and ending with more trick or treating and hot chocolate.

 Confirmation that she really is mine: flip flops with socks on...because it is getting colder after all.

Even the neighbor kids got involved in the raking of the (now known as) "incredible and incredibly fun leaf pile."

 Socks, sweatshirts, and jackets filled my front porch as the kids worked up a sweat.

 The oldest mini took a small break to help Dad with the new trim on the windows....and then jumped right back in the leaves.

 As we pushed the minis to get ready (really, why is it so hard to get ready??? Even when we're headed somewhere fun!), I glanced at the Halloween Lego's on the buffet (they're totally decoration in our house) and this caught my eye. When I picked it up giggling, my ten year old busted out laughing about it too. I didn't have to guess who thought this would be a funny thing to do.

 How most of our pictures start out...

 Someone wasn't thrilled to go on the wagon ride "because the horses smell and the wagon hurts my butt." I made him go anyway.

 Cake pops and hot chocolate at Starbucks after trick or treating.

Naturally, we ended the weekend with Sunday night chores. The boys are in charge of taking dirty laundry to the basement (white basket), getting the clean laundry out of the dryer and bringing it up (green basket), not getting in each other's way (no accomplished), unloading the dishwasher, 1 breakfast and 1 dinner per week, clean up each night of the daycare room, and vacuuming. Our Sunday night cleaning gets done, but not quickly. Just with a few more hands.

This time of year is always busy for us because of all of the fun events that are a MUST for us. What do you look forward to each year that are musts for you and your family?